A Journey Into The Dark

The mewling outside hadn’t stopped in over an hour. Frustrated, I sighed and ran my hands through my long, thin brown hair. I was never going to finish writing my new fae romance now, I thought as I got up to see what was causing the noise. I walked over and opened my back door, cringing as the hinges creaked with the effort. 

There, standing on my porch, was a small black cat whose green eyes seemed to look right through me. Instinctively, I reached down to pick it up, but before I could grab the cat, it moved toward me instead, wrapping itself around my legs and purring. As I reached down again, the cat moved away once more.

Huh… I thought to myself. This is odd. But before I could get too deep in my thoughts, it moved in front of me, meowed, and started to walk towards the edge of my porch. It turned around to look at me and chirped, almost like it was beckoning me. I pulled my cardigan closer around me as the chill in the autumn air permeated through my clothes, and I shivered. 

“I’m sorry, kitty, but I’m in the middle of something. Why don’t you come inside instead, and we'll see if I have any tuna in the house?” I asked, unsure of why I was talking to this strange cat.

The cat turned around and began to weave in and out my legs once more before finally nudging me from behind and meowing loudly, almost as though it was yelling at me to listen to what it was telling me. 

“Do you not see that it's nighttime, and women should not be walking around in the dark alone with a strange cat?” I asked my visitor, not wanting to move from my spot, but it persisted. The nudges to the back of my legs became more insistent, and its cries got louder. 

I stood there for a moment or two, debating internally what to do. I didn’t want to follow this cat, but it clearly wanted me to, and if its mewing had any indication, it had been trying to get my attention for a while. Against my better judgment, I made the decision and closed my door behind me.

 “Let’s go,” I said to the cat, unease and anticipation filling me with the thought of what I would find. At least I had my cell phone in my back pocket if I got lost or needed a flashlight.

The cat chirped and moved in front of me again, bounding off the porch in a long jump, its black, sinewy body stretching out before landing and walking toward the back gate leading into the woods behind my house. I followed behind the cat, hoping it wasn’t about to lead me in there. However, luck wasn’t with me as it started down the dark path into the forest.

“Are you sure?” I asked, a spark of fear striking my chest. The cat stopped and circled back to me for a moment, purring, before nudging me from behind as before. I stood there for a few moments and thought about why I was about to do this, but the longer I stood there, the more insistent the nudges got, and the louder it began to meow at me. Well, in for a buck, in for a pound, I thought. Checking my phone had battery, I turned on the flashlight.

“Alright, cat, let's see what needs my attention.” The cat brushed by my legs, rubbing up on them before walking ahead of me and down the path. I followed behind,  the leaves crunching under each footstep forward.

We walked like that for some time until I could no longer see the lights of my house, and the only light came from my phone's flashlight. The cat would turn around every so often to ensure I was still following it, its green eyes glowing in the light when suddenly I tripped over a root and fell. My mouth filled with a coppery taste as I had bitten my tongue when I hit the ground. My phone went flying, and suddenly, my light was gone. 

The fear crept in then, lodging in my throat, as I had the stark realization I was surrounded by total darkness. The cat meowed, sounding in front of me, but I couldn’t see its glowing green eyes anymore. I began criticizing myself then, as I sat and dusted myself off. Crazy women. Following a cat that randomly showed up at the door. Stupid decision. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was cold, couldn’t see two feet in front of me, and the crisp fall night air offered no solace. 

The cat meowed again, closer this time. As I strained to see it in the darkness, a breeze came in, rustling all the leaves around me. Suddenly, I could see the breeze moving the clouds from the full moon. There, in front of me, sat the infernal cat, its head cocked to one side as though waiting for me and unsure of why I was still sitting there. I looked around but I still couldn’t see my cell phone. The cat meowed and rubbed itself on my legs, seeming to urge me to stand and continue on this journey into the unknown. 

I shook my head and looked around as I stood. The moon provided some light, but the forest was dense where we were. I weighed my choices. I was no longer sure which direction I had come in, and I was afraid clouds would soon cover the moon. The night was silent, but the leaves still crinkled around me as small rodents ran under their cover. 

My breathing became shallow, and my heart began to race. What do I do? I thought. I can't stay here. There are coyotes that live in these woods. And almost as though I had summoned them, a howl reverberated in the distance. The cat nudged me more insistently, urging me to follow the path before us. 

Afraid to stay and become coyote food, I moved forward, following the cat. The wind through the forest picked up again, and I could feel myself going on alert, listening for any more howls as I walked, hyper-aware of the noises around me. The cat and I walked quicker this time as I wrapped my arms around myself, rubbing them to keep warm. My breaths came in short pants as I tried to stay calm, but I could feel my heart racing, and I was sure every creature in the woods could hear it, too. 

At the next step, I caught a whiff of fire and looked around to see if I could see anything. Hope to find someone else began to spread through my chest. Before I could wonder about the type of person who would also be in the woods, the cat suddenly turned to look at me, meowed, and turned off the trail. I followed it With no other choice as sharp branches began cutting into my skin, tangling and pulling at my hair. There were noises all around us now, as branches snapped with every step, the wind moving the leaves, and a lone owl began to whoot, wondering who was in its forest this time of night.

The smell of the fire grew stronger, its smoky, charred scent filling my nostrils. As a branch snapped in the near distance, I felt myself slipping into panic mode, no longer trusting this strange cat and the journey it had brought me on. I just wanted to be somewhere safe, in the light and out of these woods. The cat meowed again loudly at the sound of the branch snap, almost as though signally someone or something. I sent out a mental prayer that my mother wouldn’t read about finding my dead body in this forest in the next day’s paper. More branches and leaves snapped and crackled around us as the cat picked up the pace. A shiver ran down my back, and I was sure at that moment I was being hunted when a clearing appeared in front of the cat and me. A dilapidated stone house shone in the moonlight, with smoke coming from the chimney.

The cat ran for the house and scratched at the door, waiting to be let in by either me or its inhabitants; I wasn’t clear. I approached the door in trepidation and turned the iron handle, finding it unlocked. I opened it quietly and then stepped inside the dimly lit room…